Student's fundraiser to fight eating disorders grows to second biggest in country

Emily McMillen ’11 didn’t set out to make 16
grand for charity. She did her job and it just sort of happened.

This weekend, all of
her hard work will pay off when hundreds of people take to the streets of
Williamsburg for one of the country’s largest walks for eating disorder
awareness.

McMillen, a women’s studies and elementary education
double major at William & Mary, is the president of CARES (Collegiate
Awareness Regarding Eating Smart), which sponsors Love Your Body Week every
spring at the College. In order to increase their activity in the fall,
McMillen decided to organize what was originally going to just be a small,
community walk, but, according to her, “It got a lot bigger than that.”

The walk is sponsored by NEDA (the National Eating
Disorder Association) and will take place on and around the William & Mary
campus on the morning of Oct. 30. An event of this kind typically raises about
$1,000, but, as of last week, McMillen estimates that she has raised over $16,000,
making her walk the second biggest in the country.

“We’re kickin’ butt right now.” she said with a big
smile.

After getting approval from NEDA’s corporate
headquarters in Seattle, McMillen began working on the logistics and looking
for sponsors. However, no sooner did McMillen get past the initial planning phase
than the event “took on a life of its own.” A few weeks after she started
planning, McMillen found herself in contact with various groups on campus, in
the Williamsburg community, and eventually from around the country, all wanting
to help out in some way.

First came Chi Sigma, the graduate student
counseling group who contacted McMillen and said that they wanted to get involved.
Then came the women’s law association, which found out that McMillen’s walk
coincided with the end of women’s law week. After that, McMillen got in touch
with the FREED (For Recovery and Elimination of Eating Disorders) Foundation,
and after finding out that the walk overlapped with their education tour, the
group’s education chair Kathleen
MacDonald asked to be the main speaker at the event.

The senior also succeeded
in getting author Marya Hornbacher on board to read from her book, “Wasted: A Memoir of
Anorexia and Bulimia,” and even drew the attention of Remuda Ranch, an
inpatient care facility based in Arizona which is flying a team in to
Williamsburg for the day of the walk.

All of these groups and
individuals will come together Saturdayat
10 a.m., when McMillen’s “walk, run, stroll, crabwalk, or whatever you want” begins.
The 5k will take participants on a loop around the College campus which
McMillen, an avid runner, mapped out herself. The walk will end at the William
& Mary Recreation Center where food and live music will be offered.

When asked what happens after the 30th,
the senior first jokingly replied “I sleep.” Later, she went on to express her
hope that someone will pick up where she left off.

“I want someone to pick up the torch next year and
do this again. I don’t want this to be the first and only Williamsburg NEDA
walk. I want this to be something that happens every fall,” she said.

NEDA is the largest non-profit organization
dedicated to combating eating disorders in the world, and McMillen feels that
its continued presence would be a boon for the college campus, considering that
4.5 percent of women in America have battled an eating disorder.

“Everyone on this campus has some sort of connection
with this issue. It might be on varying levels of emotion, but I feel like there’s
a connection with everyone,” McMillen remarked. “And people are getting behind
this event because of that emotional connection. Everyone I have on board
planning this right now, it pulls their heartstrings.”

Ultimately, McMillen hopes that the biggest
contribution she makes with this event won’t be measured in terms of scale or
dollars, but in the conversations and passion that it inspires.

“You know when your friends are struggling,” she
said. “Hopefully, this will give you the strength and the words to help them.”